Swim suit, incluiding puffed shirring



June 4, 1957 w. EDELMAN swm surr, mcwnms PUFFEDSHIRRING Filed Aug. 25,1954 11 1 til 05i uvwszvrom WALTER EDELMAN A T TORNE KS;

United States Patent 2,794,187 SWIM SUIT, INCLUDING PUFFED SHIRRINGWalter Edelman, Portland, 0reg., assignor to Jantzen Inc., Portland,0reg., a corporation of Nevada Application August 23, 1954, Serial No.451,409 2 Claims. (Cl. 2-67) The present invention relates to an articleof clothing, particularly a womans one-piece swim suit. The principalobject of the present invention is to provide a construction of neat,attractive appearance having novel ornamentation thereon, so constructedthat a standard garment may accommodate a wide range of variations inlength, girth, and shape of wearers, while preserving the neat,attractive, ornamental appearance of the garment.

A further object of the present invention is to provide means in agarment of the foregoing character whereby the appearance of slimness ofthe wearer from the front is accentuated regardless of the bodilyconfiguration of the wearer, all variations of the girth of the wearerbeing accommodated by lateral stretching of the back portion only of thegarment, and all variations in length of the wearer being accommodatedby vertical stretching of the front portion only of the garment.

A further object of the present invention is to provide means in agarment of the foregoing character in which the presence of longitudinalseams joining subpanels of the front portion of the garment is renderedinconspicuous, by including such seams in .puifed shirring serving asconspicuous portions of the ornamental appearance of the garment.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be morereadily apparent from inspection of the accompanying drawings, taken inconnection with the following specification, wherein like numerals referto like parts throughout and in which a preferred form of the presentinvention is described and illustrated.

Referring to the drawings,

Fig. l discloses a womans one-piece swim suit constructed in accordancewith the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a detail enlargement taken from within the area includedwithin the circle marked with the numeral 2 on Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken substantially along line 3-3 ofFig. 2; and

Fig. 4- isa rear view, on a reduced scale, of the garment illustrated inFig. 1.

The garment herein illustrated comprises a womans one-piece swim suitincluding a bodice portion comprising breast cups 11, the lower portionsof which are generally smooth and the upper portions of which areornamented and made laterally stretchable by including a shirred area 12having concealed elastic bands therein. The present invention isconcerned principally with the portion of the garment below the breastcups, herein conveniently designated as an integral torso cover 13. Thetorso cover includes a front covering portion 14 and a back coveringportion 15, the two portions being joined by elastic side seams 16extending longitudinally from top to bottom of the garment, such sideseams including elastic cords (not shown). The lower edge of the backcovering portion is provided with a central tab 17 which provides acrotch portion for the garment, the tab being connected in front with aconcealed front portion of a panty' constructed in accordance with thepatent to Christensen 2,550,327, April 24, 1951, details thereof notbeing herein disclosed. V

The back covering portion 15 preferably comprises a pair of panels 18and 19 joined by a central longitudinal seam 20. Each of the panels isformed of nonstretchable fabric gathered by elastic cords so as to benonelastic in the vertical sense, but greatly elastic laterally.Elasticity is provided by a plurality of closely spaced, laterallyextending elastic cords 21 secured by loop stitches to the inner surfaceof the panel while in stretched condition when the panel is laid outflat. The garment is formed when the elastic cords 21 are relaxed,whereby the entire back portion comprises a plurality of generallyparallel, closely spaced shirring ribs running longitudinally of thegarment. Preferably the number of elastic cords 21 per inch is muchgreater in the midriff section than toward the top and bottom of thegarment, and the cords are stretched to a greater extent when beingattached to the fabric in the midrifi section than at the top and bottomof the garment,.whereby greater confining force is providedat themidrifi. Preferably the panels are so cut that the elastic cords rungenerally normal to the side seams 16, whereby the cords 21 extendangularly from the central seam 20. Therefore, when the garment isstretched over the body of the wearer the majority of the shirring ofthe back covering portion runs generally vertical, so that theappearance of slimness from the back is advanced. It is to be stressedthat the back covering portion is stretchable laterally of the garmentonly, except near the side seams 16 where the relaxed elastic thereinhas drawn the material. The back covering portion is generally longerthan the front covering portion when the garment is not in use, asillustrated in Fig. 1.

While the panty construction disclosed in the Christensen patent permitsthe garment to accommodate itself to wearers having a wide range oftorso length or girth, the present invention permits such adjustmentwithout appearing to distort or stretch the front covering portion ofthe garment. The front covering portion comprises a pair of side panels22 and 23 and a central panel 24,

terline of the front of the garment and the respective side seam 16. Theside seams are shirred and include elastic means, and each of the midwayseams 25 and 26 is shirred and includes elastic means whereby the entirefront of the garment is provided with large gathers 27 extending fromside to side thereof from the bodice portion to the lower edge thereof.The front covering portion is entirely nonelastic in the lateral sensebut may be stretched longitudinally of the garment to the extentpermitted by the elastic side seams and the elastic midway seams.Therefore, as the garment is worn by a person having .a short torso, theside seams and midway seams may remain relaxed, preserving the gathers27 to their full extent; however, when the garment is worn by a personhaving a long torso, the side seams and midway seams permit longitudinalstretching of the front covering portion. The amount of stretch given tothe elastic means when the side seams 16 and midway seams 25 and 26 areformed is greater than the amount of stretch which could be impartedthereto by the longest torso which could be accommodated by the garment,therefore the garment is always provided with lateral gathers regardlessof by whom it may be worn.

The ornamental appearance of the garment is enhanced by accentuating themidway seams 25 and 26 from the bottom of the garment to the lower edgesof the breast cups 11. This is accomplished by attaching I atented June4, 1957 to the rear surface of the fabric at each of the midway seams anelastic band 28 of considerable width, for example approximately oneinch in width. The band is so formed as tohave considerable longitudinalstretch, no stretch IateralIy and to behighly resistant to foldinglongitudinally. The elastic band is attached to the fabric by a pair oflines of stitches 29, applied when the band.

is stretched, the lines of stitches being parallel to each other andadjacent the respective longitudinal edges of the elastic band 28. Thelines of stitches 29 are parallel to and substantially equally spacedfrom the midway seam, and are applied in such manner that the width offabric of the sidepanel tpanel 23 as illustrated in Fig. 2) between therespective line of stitching 29 and the midway seam 26, and the width offabric of the central panel 24 between the respective line of stitching29 and the midway seam 26, is greater than one-half of the width of theband 28 between the lines of stitching 29. Therefore, when the band isrelaxed and the garment formed, the fabric of the front covering portionbetween the lines of stitches 29 at each midway seam is drawn up into apuffed, tightly crinkled, ornamental ridge, and the loose gathers 27 areprovided entirely across the front of the garment. The lines ofstitching 29 are maintained parallel to each other by the lateralrigidity of the elastic band 28. When the garment is worn by a wearerhaving a long torso, no drawing or wrinkling is apparent since the loosegathers conceal any drawn portions.

The garment may, of course, be formed as a strapless garment or may, asillustrated, be provided with shoulder straps 30 attached to the upperedge of the front of the garment and provided with buttonholes 31 forconnect-ion to concealed buttons 32 at the upper edge of the back of thegarment, or equivalent means. It is likewise to be appreciated that inplace of the ornamental shirring 12, any other desired ornamentation maybe applied to the front of the bodice.

Having illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the presentinvention, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that thesame permits of modification in detail and arrangement. I claim as myinvention all such modifications as come within the true spirit andscope of the appended claims.

Iclaim:

1. A womans one-piece swim suit comprising a bodice portion and anintegral torso covering portion, said torso covering portion comprisinga front covering portion and a back covering portion, said frontcovering portion being stretchable only longitudinally of the suit andsaid back covering portion being stretchable only laterally of the suit,elastic side seams joining said portions to Y of stitching being getherat their side edges, and a pair of puffed shirrings extendinglongitudinally of said front covering portion, each lying midway betweenthe longitudinal centerline of the garment and the respective side seam,each of said puffed shirrings comprising a fabric covering and a relaxedband of elastic web underlying the fabric and two lines of stitchingjoining said band to the fabric, said lines parallel to each other,extending longitudinally of the band, and being respectively adjacentthe longitudinal edges of the band, said band being elastic thelongitudinal direction only and being resistant to longitudinal folding,and the width of fabric between said lines of stitching being greaterthan the width of band between said lines of stitching.

2. A womans one-piece swim suit comprising a bodice portion and anintegral torso covering portion, said torso covering portion comprisingnonstretchable fabric throughout and comprising a front covering portionand a back covering portion, the fabric of said front covering portionbeing attached to elastic means extending longitudinally of the suit andthe fabric of said back covering portion being attached to elastic meansextending laterally of the suit whereby the fabric is gathered laterallythroughout said front covering portion and longitudinally throughoutsaid back covering portion, elastic side seams joining said portionstogether at their side edges, and a pair of puffed shirrings extendinglongitudinally of said front covering portion, each lying midway betweenthe longitudinal centerline of the suit and the re spective side seam,each of said puffed shirrings comprising a relaxed band of elastic webunderlying the fabric and two lines of stitching joining said band tothe fabric, said lines of stitching being parallel to each other,extending longitudinally of the band, and being respectively adjacentthe longitudinal edges of the band, said band being elastic in thelongitudinal direction only and being resistant to longitudinal folding,and the width of fabric between said lines of stitching beingconsiderably greater than the width of band between said lines ofstitching.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS857,968 Wertheim June 25, 1907 1,177,952 Inman Apr. 4, 1916 1,583,551Heck May 4, 1926 2,391,641 OHern Dec. 25, 1945 2,561,312 Laszlo July 17,1951 2,613,357 Christensen Oct. 14, 1952 2,651,040 Block Sept. 8, 1953

